The new Microwave+Convection combo oven arrived

Posted 2023-01-20 | Back to blog index

The new Microwave+Convection combo oven arrived! It replaces our 19-year-old National one that decided to no longer turn on but instead sounded like there was a bee stuck inside it.

Would have gotten a new Panasonic (the new name for National) but all the new ones are smaller. Hitachi came highly recommended by friends I asked.

Microwave oven box A white microwave oven

First things first is to wire it up, Japan-style. Instead of three-prong plugs, we have a earth terminal you screw an earth wire into.

Japanese power outlet with two earth wires coming out of it Two plugs in a Japanese socket

Seeing as how we now live in 2023, the first step in setting up your oven is of course to connect it to the Internet.

It pulled the time automatically, no blinking 00:00 here!

The display on the oven with the settings screen scrolled to the WiFi pairing option And iPhone screenshot of an app asking for permission to connect to the WiFi network created my by oven A screenshot of an iPhone app connecting to an oven An oven display with the time and a WiFi symbol

Totally Normal Ovening™

A screenshot of the Ubiquiti UniFi network management revealing the IP address of a smart oven

We were all waiting for it...

The firmware update for my oven! Gotta have that or it might burn the house down...

The Simpsons say the line Bart meme A screenshot of an app telling you about a firmware update The display on an oven while it's updating it's firmware

Initially it has you run a burn-in cycle to burn away the oils from manufacturing.

And when it was done of course I got a notification on my phone!

An oven displaying a 20 minute countdown A phone notification from my oven saying it's ready

Well now all I need is to find something to heat up and test it!

One final note of oddness is that the oven has a circuit diagram on the side of it?

A circuit diagram on the side of an oven

Very Japanese: out of the 4 items on the first page of the auto menu, you have defrost/reheat rice, and heat up sake/nihonshu.

Reheat bread comes down at 8

At least it has a beef jerky mode!

A screenshot of a smart oven app showing auto menu #2: reheat rice A screenshot of a smart oven app showing heat up nihonshu The LCD on the oven showing the first 4 options The LCD on the oven showing beef jerky mode

Update on 2023-01-22:

First cookies, first biscuits out of the oven - looking good so far!

Chocolate chip cookies being taken out of an oven Buttermilk biscuits on a grill rack

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